The sky is, literally, the limit

On July 20, 1969, as humans set foot on an astronomical body other than Earth for the first time, millions watched on television sets across the globe.

On July 20, 1969, as humans set foot on an astronomical body other than Earth for the first time, millions watched on television sets across the globe. The moment was historic, it was awesome, it was exciting, it was unbelievable!

What have the 40 years since wrought?

As I write this, NASA is readying for its next launch, with seven more targeted for the rest of the year.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) were prepared to launch on Thursday, June 18, with three attempts possible, at 5:12 p.m., 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m. If launch slipped to Friday, June 19, the launch opportunities would be 6:41 p.m., 6:51 p.m. and 7:01 p.m.

Would anyone, I wondered, watch the action on CNN or Fox?

The 2009 mission is no less exciting than 1969's moon walk. NASA's Web site explains the technical goals: The LRO is scheduled for a one-year exploration mission at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, the closest any spacecraft has orbited the moon. Its primary objective is to conduct investigations to prepare for future exploration of the moon.

LCROSS will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket to impact part of a polar crater in permanent shadows. LCROSS will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.

Coverage of NASA launches is video streamed at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

So, it's all there for us. The communications technology exists for streaming video on a computer screen or broadcasting it via mass-market TV, with high-definition audio, to let us all vicariously participate in the "conquering" of space. But few of us do.

The sad thing is that in an era of prolific technical and scientific discoveries and engineering achievements in space, we tend to fixate on Earth and wonder where we go from here. Bombarded by images of global unrest, numbed by the talking heads dissecting the minutiae of our economic woes, we spend too much time staring at the screen and asking, "what now?" and too little time gazing at the stars and wondering "what if?"

What if our children could be the next explorers of space? What if our sons and daughters could find engineering a rewarding career to pursue?

At a recent MIT symposium celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, Harrison (Jack) Schmitt, the astronaut on the last Apollo (17) module, mentioned that in a survey of 25- to 30-year olds, a large percentage could not relate to or did not believe in the achievements of Apollo 11.

In his talk, Schmitt mused about the famous "Earthrise" photo taken by the Apollo 8 crew from their space module porthole, saying that the shot of Earth rising above the moon's terrain had "forever changed the way we look at ourselves." Yet young people have become so desensitized by the constant barrage of images of today that they fail to appreciate the achievements of the past.

There are many reasons why our young are more interested in fame and fortune than in exploration and discovery. But maybe those who witnessed the first moon walk should remind the young more often that the sky is, literally, the limit.

I hope that the 40th anniversary will increase the desire of intelligent young people to take up engineering. They won't be doing it for the money - it barely pays the same as accounting, so there has to be be another reason... Mine was an enduring desire to build things and make them work. After 47 years that desire still holds.

I also wanted to make a comment on a part of your article: "Yet young people have become so desensitized by the constant barrage of images of today that they fail to appreciate the achievements of the past." I forgot which philosopher mused it, but there was a line that always stuck with me from my philosophy studies in college that went something like this: If a baby was to witness his father fly they would think it no more miraculous than their father's ability to walk, or to provide food. The logic was simple: If we experience something at a young age and it becomes just as apart of life as walking and breathing, then we will accept it as is and move on, not really taking the time to appreciate which struggles took place, how difficult that achievement could have been, or how impossible this once may have been seen.

Today?s youth lives in, by far, the largest technology boom in history. Since Apollo's landing we have witnessed pagers, then cell phones, then smart phones and then the iPhone, and the greatest leap forward with the iPhone is the opening up of the technology and allowing the development of apps that literally change the way we do things in our everyday lives. We?ve seen televisions move from analog to 1080p, Dubai "create" land in the shape of the globe, and a sheep cloned. The only limit that seems to exist today is the limit of the imagination. And with our youth coming of age with this technology widely available, can we really blame them for not being able to relate to the landing on the moon? In their minds, how could they relate? It was a social milestone that took a huge step forward, but did it really change the life of the everyday man, and our those repercussions obvious to today?s youth? Do you relate to the irrigation advancements of the Greeks back in the time of Caesar, or Edison's creation of the light bulb, or Bell's "telephone"? Or do we simply move on and accept the advancements of the past.

The technology that made Apollo possible was by far more useful than our ability to say we've been on the moon. Did Neil Armstrong walking on the moon make it easier for me to find a restaurant within a 3-mile radius of my current location, complete with a menu and images? Did the moon rocks help me witness the Super Bowl on my 60-inch HD flat screen? Although the delivery of that image is a by product of satellites and consequentially further advancements.

While everything has served its place in the line of development, the key part of our society is that is keeps questioning what?s next by asking why not. And we should take pride that our youth takes this for granted. If they were made aware of the huge struggles to get to where we are would we not stifle creativity? If everyone knew how many times it took just to perfect the light bulb would they not see further development as nearly impossible? What keeps technology advancing is that every generation comes refreshed with an entirely new outlook, and instead of trying to relate to past struggles they push forward with new ideas, and they do not limit themselves to the sky, but the further reaches of the imagination.

Lastly, I love when you guys focus on the bigger picture because, in my opinion, what makes engineers become innovators is the ability to step back and see the "whole picture," and how technology can be applied to everyday life.